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Appropriation for the National Encampment <»f the (■rami Armj 
of the Republic. 



i; i: m a i; K s 



HON". HOSKA II. ROCKWELL, 

OF x i: w VO R K 

In. the House of Representatives, 

Thursday, Juru SO, l 



The Bottse having under consideration Hie reporl of th< 
mitti'c on tin- District of Columbia appropriation bill- 
Mr. ROCKWELL said: 

Mr. Speaker: I can not sit here and quietly lei pass the 
insinuations which have been made with reference to an or- 
ganization of which I have the honor to be a member, and 
which has been Invited to hold its annual encampmenl in tin- 
city of Washington during the coming fall. Nor, whe 
member of what class of citizens that organization is consti? 
tuted, where it is distributed, the inlluence which it has in this 
country, and its worth, can [afford to sit here and let 
country that every man who is opposed to this pr< upon 

the Boor of this House is a Democrat and every man in fa . 
it is a Republican. 

Gentlemen on my side of the House have said this should not 
be made a party matter; and it is for thi.- reason that it may 
Qotbe ma ie a party matter, that it may not be made a pai 
matter — that I rise to enter my protest against what has been 
-aid and the action which ha- thus Far been taken by D 
era: ie members on thispr position. Why, sir, do you know who 
they are who have been invited here.-' Do you know that this 
organization comprises within its ranks 7,000 posts, containing 
over half a million of the very best citizenship of this country? 
Do you know that this organization compris >s within its ranks 
the 1 'resident of the United States, Senators in Congress, mem- 
bers of the House of Representatives, gentlemi n n presenting 
the Supreme bench of the Dnited States an I the supreme bench 
of every State in this Union? Do you know that these are the 
gent! -men who constitute a large elemenl in this organization. 
It does not embrace Bimply the poor, old, crippled veterans to 
whom the gentleman from Iowa referred as crawling' or stag- 
gering here up sru ches; it is not such alone that we are 

i to do honor to en this occasion. 

Now, these men have been invited here. A very distinguished 

citizen of this nation, whose name has recently l n in every 

mouth, once said with regard to a great political question: -, lt 
is a condition, not a theory, that confronts us.'' Now. that is 

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exactly the state of affairs here. The condition is that tv^ 
great organization has been invited not alone by the citizens -,f 
the District of Columbia or the city of Washington. They havt 
been invited here, as they understand and as they have the 
right to understand, to be the guests of the nation at the nation's 
capital. This is not the first time they have visited this capital. 
When almost thirty years ago they were here in such large 
numbers there was no question raised about their entertain- 
ment. We were all glad to see them. The nation was glad to see 
them come here, to give them welcome, and to do them honor. 
And I was glad to near the gentleman from Maryland [Mr. 
Compton] advert to that great parade, when the armies of 
Grant a id Sherman marched up the avenue and received the 
plauditso' the nation. Thirty years have since elapsed. Those 
men have grown old and gray. After the war they formed 
this organization, based upon the principles of fraternity, 
loyalty, and charity; and, as I have said, that organization 
has grown until it comprises within its ranks half a million of 
the best citizenship of this country. Year by year they have 
held their national encampments. Cities have vied with each 
other in inviting them. When they were invited to Boston the 
State of Massachusetts made an appropriation to assist in enter- 
taining them; the city of Boston made an appropriation for the 
same purpose. When they went to Detroit that city, through 
its municipal authorities, made an appropriation to entertain 
them. They were invited to come here. 

The invitation did not emanate from the citizens of Washing- 
ton alone. It was signed by representatives of the .national Gov- 
ernment — among others by the Commissioners whohave charge 
of the affairs of this District; it was officially signed by them. 
The Grand Army had the right to believe that the invitation 
came, not from the citizens of Washington, not from the Grand 
A 'my organization in this District, but that they were invited 
to come here to be the nation's guests, for the invitation came 
from the agents of the nation having charge of the municipal af- 
fairs of this District. 

It has been said there was a guaranty fund. So there was. 
Nobody believed at the start that $50,000 would not be a sufficient 
amount to properly entertain the encampment. It turns out that 
$50,000 is insufficient. Why, Mr. Speaker, do you know that 
within a radius of twenty-four hours' ride by rail from the city 
of Washington there are living 230,000 members of the Grand 
Army of the Republic? Do you know that in the States consti- 
tuting New England there are 62,000 members of this organiza- 
tion? 

Do you know that in the State of New York there are 45,000 
members: that in the great State of Pennsylvania there are 
55,000; in New Jersey, 9,000; in Maryland, 4,000; in West Vir- 
ginia, 4,000; in Ohio, o0, 000, making "in all in round numbers 
230.000. Is the gentleman from Missouri aware that in his own 
State there are 20,000 members of the Grand Army of the Re- 
public? 

Mr. DOCKERY. I am quite aware of it, and I am aware of 
the further tact that when we extended an invitation to this 
Grand Army the citizens of our State made ample contribution 
to entertain them, there being a surplus of $12,000, which was 
devoted to charity. [Applause] 

587 



Mr. ROCKWELL. Now lei me answer the gentleman from 
Missouri righl here. It i- a condition, not a th< ory, thai ■•■ 
meeting. Lei me -a\ thai i la Impossible In th citj of Wa-h- 
ingto i in raise by subscript 

o all the soldiers, with their friends, who will come hei 
A Member. Why, then, were they invited? 
Mr. ROCKWELL. I say thai when the Invitation was given 
oobody anticipated thai there •■ 
I hi here ari 

Arm , wi bin a radius of twenty-four hours' ride by rail from I 
city of Washington. There are over 200,000 more old soldi 
who are not meml e s. These veterans w ho were mustered out 
of a Tvice nearly thirty years ago desire to come h trewith their 
wives and their sons and their daughters to r< 
connected so closely in history with their pasl service. Thi 
have so desired fur years, am! it was to meel this well-known • 
that the invitation was i tt was to give the ve ter- 

ns ami their sons an I daughters an opportunity t<> revisil t lie 
Capitol which they saved and the fields on which they fought. 
Within a radius of a hundred miles from Washington an 

Isoverwnich the glorious Army of the Potomac marched 
ami fought for four long years. This encampmenl half 

million survivors of that army, now grown gray, easy opportunity 
to revisil those fields. These are some reasons why so many 
more veterans art- coming to Washington than have ever at- 
t nded any other national encampment. 

Mr. MEREDITH. Will tin- gentleman allow me to ask him 
out.' qi estion? 

Mr. ROCKWELL. V-. sir. 

Mr. MEREDITH. [wanttoaskyouinalls3riou£ ther 

or not there is any warrant in the Constitution of the United 
Sta s to appropriate th ■ monej from the Treasury of the Gov- 
ernmen for any sucb purpose? 

Mr. ROCKWELL. I answer the gintleman thai there is just 
a.-- much war. ant for making this appropriation joint 

fund as there is tor making it from the fund- of the District of 

bia. It i- as constitutio ike it in the u> 

it will be to make an exception againsl the old soldiers. If 
stitutionaJ pr tvision in the way at all to prevent 
it. then the whole operation should be voted down, and you 
should nol providi a dollar for this pur] 
Mr. BUTLER. That i> tne right view. 
Mr. ROCKWELL. If it is to be voted at all, do not make a 
distinction with reference to this fund as againsl every other 
appropriation made out of the the Districl of < Columbia. 

You provide for other expenses which have no tin. re constitu- 
tional warranl than this without question. You buy pictures 
atuary, adorn parks and s ipporl zoological and botanical 
gardens and furnish m si op ace — 

Mr. MEREDITH. My friend doe- qo( answer my question. 
Now r assume thai he is a lawyer and a good one. I take it that 
he is a const itutional Lawyer — 
Mr. i; iCKWELL. Well, I will admit that. [Laughter.] 
Mr. MEREDITH. And [4sk if there is any warrant in the 
Constit tio away the people's money for suohpurpos* 

that contemplated b 
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/ Mr. SNODGRASS. And if so, to point out the clause of the 

/ Constitution in which it may be found. 

Mr. ROCKWELL. I say that if there is any warrant ai 
all 

Mr. MEREDITH. But the question is, is there any warrant? 

Mr. ROCKWELL. If there is any warrant to vote away the 
people's money raised by taxation in the District for the purpose 
of such entertainment, there is jus" as much warrant for voting 
the provision contained in the original amendment. We have 
no more right to take it exclusively from the funds of the Dis- 
trict of Columbia than from the Government Treasury, when 
you look at it as a constitutional question. The $75,000 propo- 
sition, about which I understand there is no question, is recom- 
ni'inled by the very gentlemen who are now raising this consti- 
tutional quibble. 

Mr. MKKEDITH. My friend has not answered my question, 
although he has taken an oath to support the Constitution he 
will not answer it. 

Mr. ROCKWELL. In answer to the gentleman I will say 
that the municipal powers of the city of Washington, having 
been entrusted to this Congress, it is virtually its common coun- 
cil: and I believe that the entertainment of this organization at 
this time is just as much a proper municipal expense as various 
other items about which there is no question. It is as much a 
"public use " within the meaning of the Constitution. 

Mr. MEl\EDITH. But the common council has no right to 
vote away the money of the people except in the manner that 
the law warrants them to vote it. 

Mr. ROCKWELL. Congress is the common council, and may 
make any law for the expenditure of money not prohibited by 
the Constitute >n. Other municipalities have held this to be a 
public use of corporate funds, and as such constitutional. It 
was done in Boston: it was done in Detroit; it was done in San 
Francisco without question, and this is precisely the same prop- 
osition. 

Mr. BUTLER. Let me ask the gentleman if in his judgment 
it was legal for them to do it in tho^e places? Is it legal to use 
the public funds in Boston or in any other place for such a pur- 
posed 

Mr. ROCKWELL. I think it i-. Yon rai-e money by taxa- 
tion, erect statues in honor of dead soldiers, and pay it out of 
the Federal Treasury, but you quibble when it comes to honor- 
ing the living ones. You appropriate money without stint to 
the Columbian Exposition and call it a "public purpose" be- 
cause it teaches lessons in history and the arts. Will not this 
occadon equally well teach lessons in history and patriotism? 

Sir. the teaching which will come from the spectacle of half 
a million citi/.en-s ldiers and soldier-citizens, revisiting the 
scenes where thirty years ago they saved the nation's life, re- 
ceived a nation's thanks, and then quietly returned to th3 pur- 
suits of civil life, will be of the utmost value' to the rising gener- 
ation, and may well warrant the expenditure by that nation of 
this paltry amount as for a public purpose of the highest de- 
gree—an object lesson in American patriotism. 

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LIBRARY OF CON^o. 



012 027 252 4 4 



Hollinger 

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Mill Run F3-1955 



